


Winter

by AsMyWimseyTakesMe



Series: Bits and Bobs [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Bucky is so paranoid omg, Domestic, M/M, Not Betaed, One Shot, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-14
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-08-22 10:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8283367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsMyWimseyTakesMe/pseuds/AsMyWimseyTakesMe
Summary: In which Bucky is just a little paranoid, but Steve loves him anyway. Also, a cat named Winter.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt for this was "surrender" and I really wanted to write some Bucky and Steve, so, ta-da!

Sweat slid down Bucky’s neck. The apartment had been invaded. He stood stock still in the living room; his eyes were burning, but he refused to close them as he stared the intruder down. His opponent sprawled in Bucky’s favorite armchair with insulting ease.

It was no Avengers Tower with JARVIS in the ceiling—okay, he knew JARVIS wasn’t a man in the ceiling _now_ , it was just an expression!—but he and Steve (mostly Bucky, Steve was too damn trusting when it came to their neighbors) had made sure their Brooklyn apartment was protected as well as possible. Perimeter alarms, bulletproof glass, fire-resistant materials, and bio-scan locks on the front door _and_ the windows. How did it get through? 

“You might as well surrender now, soldier.”

“Like hell,” Bucky grunted. The intruder just watched him calmly. 

“You can’t win.”

“Shut up.”

The intruder yawned and stretched, completely ignoring the former assassin staring daggers in his direction. His hand twitched toward the knife sheathed on his thigh.

“You’re actually thinking about fighting it? Really?”

Bucky growled in response, and received a long sigh.

“You _won’t win_.”

“Shut the hell up, Steve!”

With another long-suffering sigh, Steve shouldered Bucky aside and strode into the living room. The intruder chirped and rolled onto it’s back, revealing a tempting, fluffy belly. Bucky hissed a warning as Steve reached down.

“Don’t!”

“Aw, Buck, c’mon.” Steve knelt next to the chair and began rubbing the intruder’s belly. His hand encompassed the fluffy demon from chest to back legs, and the intruder began purring loud enough that Bucky could hear from ten feet away. Bucky waited for the claws and teeth to latch onto Steve, but the intruder just lay there in a puddle of ecstasy.

Which Bucky could understand, Steve’s hands were damn talented and often turned him into a puddle of goo…

No, it was an intruder! It got through their defenses; it could be HYDRA! It could be a robot, or a demon—they had met Dr. Strange’s villains, Bucky _knew_ there were weird evil creatures out there—or it could be a villain! A shapeshifting villain!

“Oh my God, Bucky, it’s just a cat!” Steve was giving him an exasperated look that told Bucky he had been talking out loud again.

He really needed to fix that. Maybe he’d ask his therapist next session.

Bucky shook himself and inched into the room, eyeing the purring furball with suspicion. “How did it get inside if it’s _just a cat_? Not even a _mouse_ should be able to get in here!”

There was silence. Bucky frowned and looked at Steve, who had a sheepish look on his face.

“Steve…”

“Um, Natasha might have helped? A little?” Steve rubbed the back of his neck.

“You bought a cat.” Bucky said flatly. He folded his arms across his chest and pinned Steve with a glare—keeping one eye on the cat, because he wasn’t an idiot.

“Not so much _bought_ as saved, actually.” Steve admitted. “Two days ago, when we got separated and ended up split through three different states chasing those mutated animals? Natasha and I… _might_ have found one of the labs? And several soon-to-be-experimented-on animals? Including Winter here. And dogs were too much when we tried that and fish tanks give you flashbacks and he reminds me of you so I thought—”

“Slow down, punk. Whaddya mean, reminds you of me? I hate cats!”

“You _think_ you hate cats because of that devil tomcat owned by old Mrs. Czaplicki. Don’t think I didn’t see you hovering when Thor found those kittens during the slime monster fight last month.” Steve stood up and walked toward Bucky, a little smirk on his face. A memory flashed of Tiny Steve, wearing nothing but an old white shirt and socks in a dingy apartment, advancing on him with that same smirk.

Bucky jerked back into the present as Steve slid his hands into Bucky’s back pockets. He huffed and pointedly ignored the blond punk, but Steve just pressed a kiss to the side of his head. Bucky could feel Steve’s grin. 

“Winter loves cheese.” Steve said. “He likes to lounge in the sunlight and sleep for hours. He makes the cutest noises when I rub his belly.” Steve ran his hand up Bucky’s ribs and the brunet tried to strangle his giggles; his ticklish spots had come back with his memories, much to his dismay. 

“He gave me an unimpressed look when I ended up facing eight armed scientists and mercenaries by myself,” Steve continued, and laughed when Bucky’s head whirled to face him. “Yeah, just like that. And then—” Steve’s voice dropped and softened as he pulled Bucky closer. Bucky sucked in a breath as he was practically plastered against Steve’s front. His arms automatically wrapped around Steve’s waist. “Then, he saved my life by clawing the hell out of a gunman who snuck around behind me with a shotgun.” 

Bucky blinked. “Wait, what?” He stared over Steve’s shoulder at the fluffy white cat. It could fit in one of Steve’s hands. It seemed to sense his regard and twisted to bare its belly in invitation, chirping and blinking big blue eyes. “That wasn’t in the report!” 

“Even SHIELD wouldn’t believe he could shred an enemy like that,” Steve admitted. 

“More fools them. Those kittens Thor found trashed the Hulk-proof safe room.” 

“True. Anyway, I couldn’t just leave him. So I asked Natasha to bring him to Clint’s vet, the one he uses for Lucky. I guess the vet deemed him healthy and Nat brought him here.” 

“And you named him Winter. Really?” 

Steve shrugged. “Like I said, it seemed to fit.”

Bucky stepped back—he did not pout when Steve’s hands slipped out of his pockets, he didn’t—and looked from his Blond Punk to the Fluffy Possible-Demon. Two pairs of big, beseeching blue eyes stared back, and with a sigh, Bucky surrendered to the inevitable. 

“Fine, punk. We’ll keep the cat.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I gave them a cat.
> 
> Also, shout out to [owlet](http://archiveofourown.org/users/owlet/pseuds/owlet), because thanks to [Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail](http://archiveofourown.org/series/195689) my headcanon Bucky totally loves cheese.


End file.
